Surviving
by Morgy Elizabeth
Summary: Annabeth and Percy need time to recuperate after the war. Annabeth is having trouble dealing with regular life again, and they try to sort themselves out at Goode high school. With mortal friends to help them along the way, they need to balance the mortal world, the Greek world, and the monsters that live inside their heads.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So I'm kind of hesitant about posting this because it's a really common idea that is often written not well. Please go easy on me. Here's chapter 1.**

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The sound of her alarm clock nearly gave Annabeth a heart attack. It wasn't as if she didn't like mornings; she had just been really jumpy ever since the Giant War and being trapped in Tartarus.

Once Annabeth had calmed herself down, she got out of bed to get ready for the day. It was a very exciting day; she was starting her first say at Goode High School with Percy. They had talked it over and decided that Annabeth going back to San Francisco could possibly end badly for both of them. It was a risk they weren't willing to take.

Annabeth's father was originally turned off by the idea, but she finally convinced him when she explained that she would stay with her half-brother Malcolm. He was going to NYU and had an apartment with an extra bedroom.

In the kitchen, Annabeth saw said brother eating cereal while she grabbed a breakfast bar.

"Is that all you're eating?" Malcolm asked.

"Yeah, I have to get out of here soon, so I don't have much time to eat. Not all of us have classes that start at nine am," Annabeth replied as she picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "See you later!"

"Bye, Annabeth! Tell Percy I said 'hi!'" Malcolm called after her.

Once Annabeth was at school, she went to the Guidance office where she was told she would get her schedule. Inside, she encountered a happy-looking lady with short red hair.

"Hi, I'm Mrs. Snider, the guidance counselor here at Goode. You must be Annabeth Chase," she said with a smile.

"That's me. I came to get my schedule," Annabeth replied.

"I have that ready for you. I also have your planner that you can use to keep track of your homework. It also doubles as your hall pass, so don't lose it! The rules and guidelines are in the front, so if you look over those tonight you'll be set. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. Do you need a guide to show you around?" Mrs. Snider asked.

"No, I know somebody who can show me around. Thank you, though." Annabeth grabbed her schedule and planner and began to walk out of the Guidance office.

"Have a 'Goode' day, Annabeth!" Mrs. Snider called.

"Thanks, you too!" Annabeth replied.

After shutting the door behind her, Annabeth quickly turned around and ran right into someone.

"Oh, my gods, I'm so sorry!" she apologized.

"No need to apologize, Wise Girl. No damage done," her favorite person ever answered and pulled her into a hug.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain," she mumbled into his shoulder.

He laughed and kissed her forehead before pulling away.

"Do you want to go find your locker and your homeroom?" he asked.

Annabeth nodded and they walked hand-on-hand to where their grade level's homerooms were located.

"So generally the rooms where classes are located are clumped together by subject. Once you figure out where a few classrooms are then you'll easily find the rest by process of elimination," Percy explained. "Homerooms are alphabetical, so yours will be at the beginning of this hallway. What's your first class?"

"AP English," Annabeth replied.

"I'm in the regular English class with Paul right next door, so I'll walk you there after homeroom."

Annabeth's homeroom was silent, which was expected for 7:45 in the morning. Several students looked ready to fall back asleep, and one student actually did. Annabeth chuckled and walked up to the teacher who gave Annabeth her locker number and combination.

Annabeth cheerfully thanked her then went out to her locker and tested the combination. By the time she was done, the bell had rung. She spotted Percy coming towards her and waved to get his attention.

"Right this way, miss," Percy said jokingly as he led her towards the English classrooms.

When Annabeth walked into the AP English classroom, she felt a bit self-conscious. Having dyslexia made reading the English language hard for her, but not taking this class would bring down her GPA. As a daughter of Athena, she could not let that happen. Plus, if she ended up struggling, Annabeth had access to Percy's English teacher step-father who, sadly, was not teaching this class.

"Hi, I'm new. My name is Annabeth Chase," Annabeth said to the teacher.

"Hi, Annabeth! Our little class is very excited to have someone new in the mix. My name is Ms. Bell. You can have a seat right next to Jess Horton. Jess, raise your hand please!" Ms. Bell said very quickly.

Annabeth smiled and nodded. She could tell that this class was not going to be nearly as dreadful as she made it out to be.

"You came on a good day," Jess said once Annabeth sat down.

"Why's that?" Annabeth asked.

"Our class has a study hall because we got a day ahead of the other AP class. Ms. Bell likes to keep everybody on the same track," Jess explained, "which means that we have forty-two minutes to become best friends!"

"Okay then, Jess, tell me something about yourself."

"I have a couple of close friends and we are all in AP classes. In the eyes of the 'popular' people, we are the nerds of the school, but honestly, I could care less as long as they don't bother us too much."

"Do they bother you regularly?"

"Not really. They're usually plotting ways to get this one guy to date one of them. The one of them being Daniela Lamar. She's just so evil, and I say that in the most serious way. She knows that this guy has a girlfriend, and he doesn't even hang out with the guys who are considered cool. He's far from 'popular' and she's trying to change that.

Annabeth noticed that Jess seemed personally affected by this.

"You don't happen to like this guy, do you?" Annabeth asked teasingly.

"I will admit to admiring from afar. We have some mutual friends, so I know what he's like. He's really funny, but I wouldn't go as far to say that I 'like' him. I just don't know him well enough. Plus, he does have a girlfriend," Jess replied with a sigh.

"Who knows? Maybe you have a chance," Annabeth said.

"Maybe. Now, Annabeth, I believe it is _your _turn to tell me something about yourself."

Annabeth thought for a moment. She wasn't sure what she could share with this girl without having to almost lie. Basically everything she's ever done has related back to the gods.

"Well, I'm living in the city with my half-brother because my dad lives in San Francisco. He goes to NYU, so he has his own apartment where I'm basically staying in as his roommate. Um, I want to be an architect, and I have very few extremely close friends. Though, I am friends with most people I meet," she said, hoping that she wouldn't have to elaborate too much.

"Why are you so far away from your dad?" Jess asked.

"Well," Annabeth began, "he lives out there in San Francisco for his work. My step-mother and my little half-brothers live with him, so it's not like I left him by himself. I do have family here in New York, though, and due to recent events, we all thought it would be best if I stayed here."

Jess was silent for a moment. "You seem like quite the mystery, Annabeth Chase. I can't wait to solve you."

Annabeth smiled. This was the kind of inquisitive person she should be hanging around.

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**Was it good? This has been my secret for some time. QOTD: Do you like fuzzy socks? This is really random. All credit goes to my sister.**

**Please tell me if this is any good. Should I keep going?**

**Bye**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: This story had a really positive response and that made me really happy, so thanks! Enjoy chapter 2!**

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Come lunchtime, Annabeth was even more cheerful than she was that morning. She ended up having her first three classes with Jess, so she didn't need Percy's help getting anywhere. When going to her fourth period French class, she did have to ask for directions though.

At lunch, Annabeth was sitting with Jess and her other friends that Annabeth had met in either second period calculus or third period gym class: Kimberlee Wilmer, Gabby Wayne, Lewis Waters, and Vincent Harrison.

"Seriously, another girl? Vincent and I are far outnumbered 4 to 2. We need more guy friends," Lewis complained as he sat down. He shot Annabeth a grin, letting her know that he was kidding and she laughed.

Kimberlee made some kind of comment towards Lewis, but Annabeth wasn't really listening. She did, however, notice Jess stiffen up beside her, and she looked over to her friend questioningly.

Jess shrugged it off, and suddenly Annabeth's attention was elsewhere when she felt a pair of hands start to massage her neck.

"You know, Seaweed Brain, you should really announce your presence. I nearly flipped you," Annabeth said.

She heard Percy chuckle and pulled him down beside her.

"You know, I was going to ask if you wanted to meet my friends, but I see you've already made some on your own. You're such a social butterfly," Percy joked.

"This is the last group of people a 'social butterfly' would choose to hang out with," Jess pointed out.

Percy laughed. "I know, but I also knew that Wise Girl, here, probably would have ended up liking you guys."

They all laughed, but Annabeth could tell they were a little bit confused at the nicknames. However, she couldn't help but smile. She hadn't been a part of a group so happy and easy-going since right after the Giant War at camp. It wasn't that long ago, but it was very brief for Annabeth, especially since the last time it had been that way was before Percy was sent to the Roman camp. Annabeth shuddered at the memory.

Percy apparently noticed. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, just thinking..." Annabeth trailed off.

"About?" Percy prodded, clearly concerned.

"Not what you're thinking," she reassured him and saw him relax.

Even though they had been pretty good at reading each other before Tartarus, they had become even better afterwards. It was more of a survival instinct rather than a skill.

"You should go sit with your friends. I'll meet them eventually," Annabeth said while nudging him.

"You sure?" Percy asked which roughly translated to 'are you going to be okay if I leave?'

"Go." 'I'll be fine. Don't worry.'

"Okay, I'll see you later, Wise Girl."

He leaned down to kiss her, and she smiled against his lips.

"Bye," she murmured.

Once Percy had left, Annabeth turned to her new friends to see them looking shocked and confused.

"Oh my God. You're the girlfriend," Jess groaned and then threw her head into her hands. "I feel so embarrassed now."

Annabeth laughed. Jess liked Percy. However, she was not the jealous type.

"Don't be. You said yourself that you were just admiring from afar. I don't blame you. He seems perfect to those who don't know him," Annabeth said with a shrug.

"Wait," said Gabby, "if he's your boyfriend, shouldn't you see him as perfect?"

"Not necessarily. We've been friends since we were twelve, so we already know each other's flaws. For instance, his head is so full of seaweed that most of the time he isn't very bright. He's also too loyal for his own good. He'd do anything and risk anything for a friend," Annabeth said while gazing over to where Percy was laughing with his friends.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Gabby protested.

"Not always," she replied. It's what's going to kill him someday, Annabeth added to herself.

Nobody else said anything after that, and Annabeth continued to eat her lunch in silence as did the rest of the table.

Soon enough, lunch was over and they all went to Physics. Annnabeth sat at a table with the girls and listened to the teacher drone on about things that she already knew.

The period passed by soon enough, and it went basically the same way in her AP cultures class.

Finally, the class she had been waiting for all day was about to begin: architecture.

She had this class with Vincent, so she didn't have to go off on her own in able to find the classroom.

"So do you want to be an architect, Annabeth?" Vincent asked her.

"Yes, more than anything. I'm sure my friends have found me designing things more than they've found me reading or doing anything else," Annabeth found herself babbling.

"Same her. Lewis always tells me that if there's something I love more than books, it's architecture and that I should definitely pursue it."

"So what do we do in this class? Do we study architecture or do we design?" Annabeth asked.

"A little bit of both. We'll study a certain type and then design something as project which would also count as our test," Vincent explained.

"What're we working on now?" she asked again.

"I bet I could answer that question," a voice from the front of the room said. The voice was a man who looked to be in his late twenties.

"Hi, Miss Chase, I'm the architecture teacher here at Goode. I also teach some math classes, but I'm sure you don't care about that. My name is Mr. Alvey," he continued. "Anyway, the class does not know our next unit yet because I like to keep it a secret. You came on the day of the big reveal. Can I get a drum roll?"

Some kid in the back started to band on his desk which made Annabeth giggle.

"Our next unit will be Ancient Roman architecture!" Mr. Alvey exclaimed.

Annabeth smiled to herself. She was almost glad he didn't say Ancient Greek. It would have been too easy for her. She would at least have to put a little bit of research into this. Maybe a weekend trip to Camp Jupiter?

The rest of the students were all suddenly happily chattering amongst themselves. She heard one boy jokingly ask if he could get away with drawing the Coliseum.

"Hush, now, children. I will spare you from taking boring notes for today. We're going to do that tomorrow. For now, use whatever technology you have on your person to look up Ancient Roman architecture and start to get a general idea of what you want to do for your project. We'll be doing notes and examining different buildings that were built in Ancient Rome, and I'll give you next week to work. Could someone tell Annabeth what that means this weekend is?" Mr. Alvey asked.

Vincent was called on and he turned to Annabeth. "It's 'Plan Weekend' which means that you do whatever it takes to get an idea of what you're doing. You need a definite idea by Monday in class, and you can only change it with Mr. Alvey's consent after that," he explained.

Annabeth was definitely trying to get to Camp Jupiter, or at the very least, IM Reyna.

"Very good, Vincent. Now, I know all of you have your phones on you. Look up stuff," Mr. Alvey said then sat at his desk where he started to. what looked like, grade papers.

Annabeth saw Vincent pull out an iPhone and asked, "You mind if I look with you? My phone isn't the best thing in the world."

"Sure," he replied and they spent the rest of the period discussing all of the Roman architecture.

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**How was it? I really enjoy writing this. I'm actually getting ahead of myself, which is rare for me.**

**QOTD: Do any of you play an instrument?**

**I play flute, piccolo, and oboe. I'm learning oboe, anyway. I'm not the best. I'm actually going to county band tomorrow on flute, and I'm really excited :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Are people enjoying this? I know I am. Here's chapter 3!**

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Annabeth's last period class was Ancient Greek. She was told that they would be studying the culture in depth, and was warned against taking it because she was arriving so late in the year. She thought it would require the help of an Aphrodite child with the power of charm speak to convince the guidance counselor, but somehow, she convinced her that she would do just fine.

Walking in, Annabeth noticed that Percy was in this class. She was glad that she had at least one class with him, and it was the one that she didn't have any of her new friends in. Annabeth would never really be alone during the day.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain," she greeted as she sat in the vacant spot beside him.

"Hey, there, Wise Girl. I was beginning to think I would have no classes with you. Now I have more than one reason to look forward to this class," Percy replied happily.

The Ancient Greek teacher also taught Annabeth's AP cultures class, so she didn't have to go through introductions again.

When the lesson began, Annabeth was surprised with how few inaccuracies there were. It was impressive. The teacher, Mr. Alexander, seemed to know what he was talking about.

That say's lesson was about Apollo. Annabeth already knew everything there was to know about all of the gods, but she wanted to see what Mr. Alexander got right and wrong.

She and Percy shared a knowing look when he mentioned Apollo's oracle, but he did not mention how riddling prophecies from the oracle truly were, just that she could only tell the truth. Most of the students thought that this was awesome.

"Excuse me," Annabeth caught Mr. Alexander's attention, "weren't these truths awfully confusing for those receiving them?"

Of course, she already knew the answer. She and her friends had tried to de-riddle prophecies enough to give her many headaches.

"Annabeth is very right," Mr. Alexander said. "There actually is a story about a weary king who approached the oracle about a battle he was about to fight. The oracle told him that a great king would win the battle, and he was very happy about this, leaving the oracle many gifts. The king's men had lost the battle, and he was killed."

"But the oracle told him that he would win," protested one of the students.

Annabeth couldn't hold back her laugh.

"I think Annabeth would like to answer you," Mr. Alexander said with a smirk.

"I would," Annabeth replied. "Even though the oracle said that a great king would win, the king who went to her failed to think about the king he was going into battle with. He had died, causing the other king to win the battle. A great king did win."

"Very good, Annabeth," Mr. Alexander said, smiling. He continued on with the lesson, and Annabeth doodled in her notebook so it looked like she was taking notes. It didn't feel worth it to write down what she had been trained to know since the age of seven.

Mr. Alexander ended class early, and apparently decided to come over and talk to Annabeth.

"I was surprised when I saw that you were joining this class, Miss Chase. I don't normally let people join in the middle of the year because there's so much to look at. I know you got one answer right, but don't get cocky and just not take notes. My tests are hard, and your notes are all you have to prepare," he said. He wasn't being rude about it; It was more like he was concerned for Annabeth's final grade.

"Sir, I took this class because Greek mythology and culture are some of my biggest interests. I don't mean to disrespect you, but I already know more than any notes I could take in this class," Annabeth said calmly. She was expecting a detention, but instead she saw a mischievous grin on her teacher's face.

"Let's test you then, and we can put a wager on it. I'll give you the last test this class took, and if you get a perfect then I won't expect you to take notes and the class will have a pizza party this Friday. If you don't get a perfect, then you'll stay after school every day until you've completely caught up with the class which means taking notes," Mr. Alexander said.

He had caught the attention of the rest of the class, and Annabeth could see Percy silently telling her to take the deal.

"I do believe we have a deal," Annabeth said and they shook hands.

"Okay, Annabeth. I'll see you all tomorrow. While she's testing, you'll all be writing a paragraph on one of the Greek gods or goddesses of your choosing. For homework you'll have to do the research. Goodbye."

The bell rang, and Percy was leading Annabeth back towards her locker.

"Gods, Wise Girl, that was great. Mr. Alexander is such an awesome teacher. Anybody else probably would have kicked you out of lass for saying that stuff," Percy laughed.

"Nobody insults my knowledge on basically our entire life," Annabeth pointed out while grabbing the things she needed.

"Do you want me to walk you home? or Paul could drive you?" Percy offered.

"No, I'll be fine. You go home. Get to work on 'researching' Poseidon for your paragraph. Tell your mother I said 'hi,'" Annabeth replied.

"Fine. Be safe," Percy said and pecked her on the lips before jogging off to Paul's classroom. "I'll IM you later!"

Annabeth smiled at her Seaweed Brain before walking out of the school where she promptly ran into Jess.

"Hey, Annabeth! Which way are you heading?" she asked.

Annabeth gestured in the general direction of her and Malcolm's apartment.

"Cool! Me too! You don't mind walking together, do you?" Jess asked.

"Nope, not at all," Annabeth replied with a smile.

She recounted her story of what happened in Ancient Greek, and Jess couldn't stop laughing.

"Mr. Alexander is always doing something that surprises me. Are you going to study a lot tonight since you need a perfect?" Jess managed to say between her laughter.

"No," Annabeth scoffed, "I don't need to study. Why would I make the bet if I thought I would get anything less than 100%? Greek mythology is practically my life," Annabeth decided to laugh at her own joke later.

"I'm sure you're distantly related to Hercules or something," Jess joked.

_If only you knew, _Annabeth thought.

They reached a point where they needed to go their separate ways, and Annabeth spent the rest of her walk home in a nice, comfortable silence.

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**Did you like it? Mr. Alexander is written so awesomely in honor of my awesome cultures teacher. QOTD: what's the coolest/craziest thing your favorite teacher has ever done?**

**Love you all! thanks for the follows and reviews!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I've been putting off homework to type/edit this chapter. I may be doing the next chapter as well if I want to procrastinate more. Enjoy chapter 4.**

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Annabeth and Malcolm had a very calm night. She did her homework while he worked on some assignment. They had classical music playing quietly in order to work more efficiently.

"How was your first day at Goode?" Malcolm questioned, looking up from his laptop.

"Good," Annabeth replied while pulling a calculator out of her bag.

"Make any friends?"

"I actually did, and they aren't just Percy's mortal friends either."

Malcolm laughed. "I'm so proud. Do you have any classes with Percy?"

"Last period. We have Ancient Greek together. Speaking of which, I may or may not have challenged a teacher today," Annabeth said with a smirk.

"Did you get detention on your first day? I know demigods attract trouble, but that had to be a record," Malcolm replied, shaking his head.

"I didn't get detention," Annabeth protested. "I have to take some test in Ancient Greek class tomorrow and get a perfect to prove that I don't need to take notes in that class."

"That poor teacher. Two demigods in his class, and he doesn't even know about it."

Annabeth laughed. "Well, he's a really good teacher, anyway. He's got most of his facts straight, but mortals think that there are different versions of the 'myths.' That's the only reason why I'm giving him a pass," she explained.

"It's kind of odd that the school has an Ancient Greek class," Malcolm pointed out.

"The teacher's name is Mr. Alexander. Maybe he likes Ancient Greek mythology and culture because of Alexander the Great. He was already a teacher at the school, he only really had to press to have this class as an elective," Annabeth replied.

"Makes sense. Now finish your homework, little sister."

Annabeth stuck her tongue out at him then went to back to her work. Once she was done, she made herself a small dinner and then showered and put on pajamas.

She was settled on her bed with a book when Percy IM'd her.

"Hey, Perce," she greeted. "Did you do your homework?"

"Of course, Wise Girl. I'm sure you, my mom, and Paul would all murder me if I didn't," he joked.

"Very true."

They talked for about an hour about little unimportant things. Then it happened.

Out of seemingly nowhere, Annabeth felt herself back in Tartarus. She was blind and couldn't get to Percy and was panicking. She involuntarily let out an ear-piercing scream, and could vaguely hear someone saying her name.

Suddenly, she could see again and saw Malcolm standing in front of her, looking concerned, with the IM gone.

"Percy's going to be here soon. What happened? Are you okay?" he asked.

Annabeth noticed herself trembling and breathing heavily.

"I-I w-was in T-tartarus," she stuttered out. "I c-couldn't see a-anything a-and Percy..." She trailed off and felt the tears roll down her face. Annabeth hadn't been this upset since right after they got out.

"Shh, Annabeth, you're not in there anymore. You got out. You and Percy are okay now," Malcolm soothed, pulling her into his arms.

After awhile, there was a knock on the door. Malcolm got up, saying it was probably Percy,

He was right, and Annabeth soon found herself in the arms of her boyfriend.

"It's okay. We're alive," he kept repeating quietly to her.

Once she was calmed down, Annabeth said, "Sorry."

"For what, Annabeth?" Percy asked.

"You came all the way over here," Annabeth answered with a shrug.

"It was a good enough reason," Percy said then kissed her forehead. "What exactly happened?"

Annabeth explained what she saw and how she felt.

"Sounds like a flashback. I've had a few myself since we got out. It's always terrifying and always something different. Luckily, I haven't had any in school yet. Imagine trying to explain that," he explained.

Annabeth let out a dry laugh then asked, "Why didn't you ever tell me about the flashbacks?"

"I didn't want to worry you. Assuming that this is your first one, you lasted much longer than I did," he replied.

"Well, now we tell each other any time that it happens so we can at least help with the aftermath."

"That sounds like a wonderful plan."

They laid there together a bit longer before Percy said that he had to go.

"Be safe, Seaweed Brain. I'll see you tomorrow at school," Annabeth said.

"I will Wise Girl. See you tomorrow," he said.

"I love you."

"Not as much as I love you."

"Gods, Seaweed Brain. Don't be cheesy."

"Fine. I love you too."

They kissed and Annabeth pushed him out the door before he could stay any longer. Saying 'goodbye,' even for a short amount of time, was hard for them, so they just opted to never really say it.

She went back to her room where she saw Malcolm waiting outside the door.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Annabeth replied.

"Need anything?"

"I'm just going to go to bed."

Annabeth walked past her brother and into her room where she fell into bed and promptly fell asleep.

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**Did you like it? This chapter was fun for me to write. I know that's horrible, but I love it when I can make interesting things happen. Now onto the QOTD...**

**If you had to choose a book from the PJO and HoO series, which would be your favorites?**

**Mine are The Last Olympian and the House of Hades. Though, I feel like Blood of Olympus is going to end up being my favorite of the HoO series.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Well, here it is. I said that I would probably get it done today. Though, I will probably post this in a day or so. Not that this affects you because you're already reading this so it's already posted. Enjoy chapter 5!**

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The next morning, Annabeth got up and got ready. She was pleasantly surprised by her boyfriend showing up to walk her to school.

"You didn't have to do this," Annabeth pointed out while they left the apartment.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay, and I didn't want to wait until you got to school to see you," Percy explained.

"Well, that was very thoughtful of you," Annabeth said and nudged him with her shoulder.

When they got to school, Percy walked Annabeth to her homeroom, and they parted, knowing that they wouldn't see each other until lunchtime.

Homeroom went by fast, and Annabeth quickly went to her first period class once the bell rang.

Annabeth sat down in her seat and saw _Romeo and Juliet_ sitting on her desk. She inwardly groaned, and Jess seemed to notice her displeasure.

"Not a fan of Shakespeare?" Jess jokingly asked.

"Oh, it's not that. Shakespeare is amazing. However, my dyslexia plus his inverted syntax equals headache," Annabeth explained.

"Aw, I'm sorry. If you want, I can help you out with it," Jess offered.

"Okay," Annabeth agreed happily.

"What are you doing after school today? I bet we could knock out at least the first three reading assignments."

"I don't have much planned at all. My brother and I tend to just do work for the entire evening anyway."

They made a plan for Jess to come over after school and they would work on reading act 1. Annabeth was gracious for her help.

Soon, class started and the teacher began explaining the different parts of _Romeo and Juliet_ and how reading Shakespeare's writing could be difficult.

_Understatement, _Annabeth thought and she and Jess shared a knowing look.

The rest of the class time was spent with the class reading the first scene out loud. Or attempting to. Annabeth wasn't going to be the only one who struggled.

Jess, however, had a natural knack for reading and understanding Shakespeare perfectly it seemed. She read her section flawlessly and was not unsure about one word of it.

Annabeth was kind of jealous, but she knew she couldn't help that her brain was hard-wired for Ancient Greek.

Soon enough, class was over, and Annabeth was ready for Calculus which went fast because math was always easy and reliable for Annabeth.

Finally, it was time for Gym. She had this class with Jess, Gabby, and Kimberlee. It was an all girls class as well, and Annabeth had to prepare herself for the lack of participation from 75% of the class.

"Okay, ladies," said their teacher, "divide yourselves into 4 teams of 6. We're playing volleyball."

Annabeth felt herself getting excited. Her cabin loved to play volleyball at camp. They would divide in half and play sometimes for hours if they could.

The four girls grouped together, and two girls who couldn't be on a team with their friends joined them.

To win a game, a team had to either reach ten or be two points ahead after reaching ten. Annabeth's team won three games in a row by the time they had to go back to the locker room and change.

They were talking about how awesome the volleyball games were when Kimberlee pointed it out.

"What's that on your arm, Annabeth?" she asked.

Jess and Gabby both looked to what Kimberlee was talking about, and then they looked back to Annabeth in confusion.

Annabeth didn't realize what Kimberlee was talking about until she looked herself. It was a scar from the second Titan War. When she protected Percy from the poisoned knife with her own body. It felt like lifetimes ago, but it must have been more prominent than her other scars.

"Oh, that, um, I," Annabeth tried to think of a clever lie, but suddenly she was thinking about things that hadn't crossed her mind for a long time. Death, fighting, Kronos, Luke, and her mind settled on the moment on the bridge when she could just feel that something bad was going to happen to Percy.

It was all a blur after that. She could hear a distant scream, but couldn't tell if it was hers or someone else's. Annabeth felt something cold against her back and quickly came back to reality.

She was crouched down with her back against one of the lockers and with her head in her hands. She was trembling beyond belief.

Her friends, along with every girl in the locker room, had been standing around her with panic written all over their faces.

"Annabeth, what just happened?" Jess asked after a moment of silence.

"Nothing," Annabeth brushed her off and quickly stood up to finish changing.

"It didn't seem like nothing. You were screaming, almost like you were in pain. I'm not a dumb girl, Annabeth," Jess pressed.

By then, mostly everyone else in the locker room had gone back to what they were doing before. There was ten minutes until the bell to end the period was going to ring.

"That almost seemed like what my brother goes through," Kimberlee said. "He fought in Iraq and has PTSD."

"Do you have PTSD, Annabeth?" Gabby asked.

"No," Annabeth denied. She did, but explaining why would be very difficult.

"It's okay, Annabeth. We're your friends. I know you've only just met us, but you can trust us," Kimberlee said.

Annabeth did want to trust these girls, but there were very few people in her life that she actually trusted. And even fewer were mortals.

"It's not that easy," Annabeth sighed.

The girls kept trying to ask Annabeth questions, but when they realized that she wouldn't answer any of them, she stopped.

Annabeth felt Jess try to soothingly rub her back, but she shrugged her off. They all sat in silence until the bell rang.

French crawled by slowly, but soon it was time for lunch.

She sat down with her friends and scanned the area for Percy. She hadn't fully recovered from the locker room and needed him.

When she finally found him, they locked eyes and he quickly made his way over.

"What happened?" he asked as he sat down next to Annabeth.

"Flashback," she said quietly, hoping that her friends weren't listening.

"What of?"

"Poison knife," she said with a shiver, and she could tell by the look in his eyes that he automatically understood.

"It's okay. We're alive. We survived. You saved me, and then I did my best to try and save you," he murmured while pulling her close and lightly touching the scar on her arm.

"I hadn't thought about that in so long," she said.

"We had a lot of things on our plate since then, and we suffered through a lot worse," he replied, rubbing her back.

"No matter what the situation is, the possibility of losing you is the worst," she mumbled and felt him kiss the top of her head.

"Do you want me to stay here?" he asked.

"No, I'll be fine. See you later," she said and looked up at him. Annabeth felt the pressure of his lips on hers, and then he was gone.

"How was he able to make you feel better so fast?" Jess asked after he had gone.

"We understand each other. Had it been the other way around, I'm sure I would have been able to make him feel better just as quickly," Annabeth answered.

"Is that something that happens often with you two?" she asked again.

"You'd be surprised," Annabeth sighed. She noticed her friends exchanging concerned glances.

"Um, Annabeth, the girls and I noticed something else when you had your little, uh, episode earlier," Jess said after a moment.

"What was that?" Annabeth asked, feeling nervous. Had she said something about the Gods or Kronos?

"Well, you kept saying Percy's name, and we don't know what to think of that. I know you two seem perfectly okay now, but has he done anything to you in the past that could cause you to be the way that you are?" Kimberlee asked, taking over for Jess.

Annabeth almost laughed. As if Percy _could_ lay a finger on her, even if he tried.

"Well, you tell me something," Annabeth said. "You all know Percy slightly more than being acquainted with each other. Does he seem in any way abusive?"

"But that scar on your arm," Gabby started, and Annabeth cut her off.

"Is none of your business, but I got that scar _protecting_ Percy. He is the last person that would ever give me it." Annabeth mentally swore to herself. She didn't mean to say that much. Now, they were going to ask questions.

Before they could say anything, she got up and walked over to where Percy and his friends were sitting. At least she could just pass it off that she was mad at them rather than herself.

Percy and his friends were laughing about something when she sat down.

"What happened?" Percy asked automatically once he sensed her presence.

"They thought that you might be abusive," Annabeth managed to laugh.

"Why's that"

"Because they thought that my scar plus me saying your name during my flashback equals abusive boyfriend, but anyone who knows you knows that hurting people for no good is not your forte."

Percy laughed. "You would kick my butt before I even thought about hurting you."

Annabeth finally noticed the three others sitting at the table were looking at them with confusion, and she gave a sheepish wave.

"Hi, I'm Annabeth," she greeted.

"We figured," said the boy sitting straight across from her. "I'm Liam, and this is Shayne and Max."

"They're all on the swim team. They want me to try out, but I don't know," Percy explained.

"Please tell him that he has to. He's an amazing swimmer. Plus, we need another 'uncool' guy on the team. Right now, it's just us, and we need to expand," begged Shayne dramatically.

"I think you should do it. Just go easy on them," Annabeth said, saying the second part quietly.

"Fine. I'll do it," Percy relented.

The three boys cheered and Shayne yelled out, "Annabeth, you are a saint! You need to make him listen to us more often!"

Annabeth laughed. She was feeling better already.

* * *

**Did you like it? I know I liked this chapter a lot. now onto the qotd...**

**What's your biggest pet peeves?**

**I hate it when people drag their feet. If you are in high school, pick up your dang feet. It's not hard.**

**see you guys next time!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hello lovely ladies and gents. This chapter turned about to be slightly above my normal length so yay :D I hope you guys enjoy it!**

* * *

Annabeth ignored her friends for all of Physics and Cultures. In cultures, Mr. Alexander acted as if there was no bet that was going to take place later that afternoon. It made her even more excited, but she couldn't really share this excitement.

When architecture rolled around, Annabeth was thankful because she didn't really have to pretend to be mad at Vincent.

"Are you okay, Annabeth?" he asked once they both had settled into their seats. "I haven't quite been able to process what happened at lunch."

"I'm just kind of mad at the girls for thinking that Percy was abusive," she lied.

"Well, what happened that lead up to them thinking that?"

Annabeth thought for a moment, trying to filter what she could and could not say.

"Well," she started, "I don't exactly have the best past, and because of that, my mind isn't always the best place to be. It turns against me and I have flashbacks of not-so-pleasant things."

Vincent looked like he was going to say something, but apparently decided against it.

Mr. Alvey started class, and Annabeth pulled out her notebook. While she did know more than most about Roman architecture, Annabeth knew a lot more about Greek architecture. This was an opportunity to learn.

Mr. Alvey talked a lot about columns which baffled Annabeth because they were just columns. Apparently they were a big deal, and the class hadn't really gone into depth about them.

Annabeth took notes on every important detail, even the ones she already knew, to reference when designing her project. She was unbelievably excited for the experience this class was going to give to her. Not as much as redesigning Olympus, but still experience, nonetheless.

By the end of class, Annabeth's mind was swirling with ideas. She was lucky that she correctly made her way back to Mr. Alexander's room because she was not focused on where she was going.

"Annabeth!" Mr. Alexander called to her as she walked in. "I have a lovely seat for you up by my desk that you can test in. The first part of the test was to list the twelve Olympians, but since everyone needs to write about one of the gods or goddesses, you can just write them on the board instead of on the paper."

Annabeth nodded and picked up a piece of chalk. It wasn't hard; she just listed the gods in one column and the goddesses in another. Annabeth could do that in her sleep.

"Very good, Annabeth. That, however, was the easy part. I hope you studied," Mr. Alexander said with a sly smirk.

Annabeth smirked back. "I didn't need to."

Mr. Alexander handed Annabeth the test, and she took it and sat in her 'special seat.' Skipping over the first part, she began. It was all relatively easy things. She would smile when the question would mention Chiron or her mother.

After about fifteen minutes, Annabeth handed Mr. Alexander her test. He looked impressed at how fast it took her, and she just smiled smugly.

It didn't take him very long to check her test. When he was done, he simply stated, "You got one wrong."

That got basically the entire class' attention. Percy looked like his eyes were about to bulge out of his head.

"Which one?" Annabeth asked defiantly.

"The one about Chiron's appearance. You said that he had the entire lower body of a horse which is incorrect. His front legs were human legs and then he had the lower body of a horse behind them. Don't feel too bad; Mr. Jackson missed that question as well. Such a shame Looks like we'll be spending a lot of time together," Mr. Alexander said.

"But that was a matter of what I had previously learned," Annabeth fought. "There are different versions of the myths, so you can't expect everybody to know the same one."

Mr. Alexander sighed. "Fine, we'll compromise. You don't have to take notes, and you can stay after school twice a week to catch up on other assignments."

"Deal," Annabeth said and they shook hands.

"You can start tomorrow with the paragraph that everyone else wrote today. Then, you can just come on Wednesdays and Thursdays until you're all caught up."

Annabeth nodded then went to sit by Percy who was already done with his Poseidon paragraph.

"That question was so dumb. I forgot about it, otherwise I would have warned you," Percy said.

"It's fine. I only have to stay after school two times a week, and I still made my point about taking notes," Annabeth replied with a shrug.

"He might think you studied."

"Let him think it. Being alive was my studying for that test." Annabeth smiled sweetly at her boyfriend.

"You better get started on your Athena paragraph," he said jokingly.

"How on earth will I be able to summarize my mother into one paragraph?" Annabeth asked jokingly.

"Not sure. Quite honestly, my Poseidon paragraph was just a page of facts I terribly strung together, but you're a better writer than I am. You'll figure it out."

The rest of the class grew silent, and Annabeth saw that Mr. Alexander was standing in front of the room.

"Okay, so most of you are done with your paragraphs. I hope you chose a good god or goddess to write about because alongside the paragraph, you will have to make a presentation pretending you are their child like the heroes found throughout Greek mythology. Basically, just compare yourself to the god or goddess of your choosing. For fun, the class will vote to say whether you were believable or not. That will not factor into your final grade which I, of course, will be deciding. You're rubrics are on the desk by the door. Either grab one now or on your way out. Enjoy your evenings everybody," he said.

Annabeth glanced over at Percy nervously. "Is it really a good idea to do this project?" she asked.

"I don't know. I mean, we would easily get a good grade, but we can't do _too _good. I guess as long as we aren't pricking our fingers and showing everyone our DNA, we should be okay. Just be vague," Percy rambled.

"Your ramblings make sense," Annabeth said with a laugh.

The bell rang, and they walked over to where the rubrics were stacked. Annabeth put one in her bag without looking at it, telling herself she would read it over later.

"You want me to walk you home?" Percy asked.

As he asked, Jess had walked up to them. She looked hesitant because of the events that had happened earlier.

"No, Jess and I have plans to work on our literature assignment," Annabeth said and Jess visibly relaxed.

"Okay, we'll talk later?" he asked again.

"Of course. See you later, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said endearingly.

"See you, Wise Girl," he bid goodbye and walked towards the teachers' parking lot.

Annabeth turned to Jess. "Ready?" she asked, and Jess nodded.

"I'm really sorry about earlier. We all kind of jumped to conclusions, and we should have just let it alone. You don't need to tell us about anything that personal. You only just met us, and here we are, treating you like an old friend," Jess apologized.

"I wasn't really mad at you guys, and it's okay to treat me that way. That's your way of showing that you trust me and have accepted me as friend. I don't trust people as easily. That's nothing against you guys; it just takes more time for me than it would for an average person," Annabeth explained.

They had just reached the courtyard out in front of Goode, and Jess started to say something when they heard someone else speak to them.

"So you're the new girl. I've wanted to get my hands on you, but it seems that some other people already have," the voice said.

Annabeth turned around to see a girl with badly dyed blonde hair and a backpack covered with what looked like hair bows. She wasn't sure what they were for, but one of them said "cheer," so that kind of answered the question of what they were for.

"Who are you?" Annabeth asked.

"I'm Daniela Lamar, and I already know that you're Annabeth Chase; the girl who stole Percy Jackson's heart. However, your choice of social status plus your choice of boyfriend don't go well together," Daniela explained.

"I'm sorry?" Annabeth asked in confusion.

"Well, you see, Percy is destined to be popular. He needs to just make the right friends and date the right girl. When he finally joins the swim team, he'll make the friends. We've decided that instead of breaking the two of you up the hard way, we'll give you a choice: either become friends with us and continue to date Percy during your rise to popularity or stay with your 'friends' and let Percy go. Let him rise to his potential," Daniela said with a sickly, sweet smile.

Annabeth and Jess exchanged a look of disbelief, and Annabeth was thinking of the best way to tell this girl off. However, Jess beat her to it.

"Try as you might, Daniela, but you cannot control everything and everybody. Now we'll be leaving," Jess said.

They were gone before Daniela had picked her jaw off of the ground.

* * *

**Did you like it? The introduction of Daniela was fun. She is going to periodically be annoying throughout the story, so keep an eye out for her!**

**QOTD: what do people do that really annoy you?**

**I hate when people butt into my conversation like they were a part of it the whole time or laugh when I tell my sister a joke or something. It's really awkward and annoying.**

**Until next time!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: So I wanted to update last night, and it wouldn't let me. Now I'm going to quickly update then write an essay. Yay. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Walking into Annabeth's apartment, Jess looked shocked.

"This is really nice. I thought you said your brother was in college," Jess said in admiration.

"He is. Our mom pays for the place," Annabeth explained.

"Apartments in New York city cost a lot. My mom would never pay for me. She'd tell me that I have to work for it," Jess said.

"Trust me, we have worked for this," Annabeth said and led her to the kitchen table. "We can work in here. Malcolm will probably be getting home soon, but he'll just do his work in the living room."

"Okay, sounds good," Jess replied and then got out her English supplies. "Let's read _Romeo and Juliet._"

They worked for about a half an hour until Malcolm got home. It was mostly Jess just telling her what was going on while Annabeth stared at the book, drowning in letters.

"Oh, hello," she heard Malcolm say.

"Malcolm, this is my friend, Jess. She's helping me read _Romeo and Juliet _because my brain fails me," Annabeth explained.

"Hi, Jess. I'm Malcolm, Annabeth's brother, obviously. Annabeth, I thought you read that a few years ago at camp," Malcolm stated in confusion.

"I tried and failed," Annabeth said with a shrug. "Dyslexia is a pain."

"Don't forget the ADHD on top of that," Malcolm added jokingly.

"Hey, I can control my ADHD in school because I actually like it there."

"Do you bounce your leg?"

"...Maybe."

They both laughed, and Jess looked at them in confusion.

"Are you making fun of your sister's medical disorders?" she asked in disbelief.

Malcolm laughed again. "No, we both have ADHD and dyslexia, so really, I'm making fun of _our _medical disorders," he explained.

"Oh."

Annabeth noticed Jess' face go red, and stifled a giggle.

"Well, you two get back to work. I'll be in the living room," Malcolm said as he grabbed an apple and walked out of the room.

"Do you want to take a break? My brain hurts," Annabeth said after glancing at the page they were on.

"Sounds good," Jess replied.

Annabeth grabbed a bag of chips and led Jess to her room. Normally, she would choose a healthy snack, but after the day she had, she could care less.

"Time for an unhealthy after-school snack," Annabeth joked while jumping onto her bed.

Jess sat down next to her, and Annabeth noticed her examining the room.

"See anything interesting?" Annabeth questioned.

"Oh, sorry," Jess apologized

"Don't apologize; it was a legitimate question."

"Oh, well, you have a lot of books, which I expected. The stack of blueprints was something I didn't exactly expect, but you did say you wanted to be an architect. It makes sense, then. You have a lot of pictures of what looks to be in a summer camp, and is that one in Paris?" she asked.

Annabeth looked at the picture. It was on her bedside table, and it pictured her and Percy. The Eiffel Tower was in the background. One of Percy's arms was wrapped around her, the other was holding the camera, and he was kissing her head. He had caught her off guard, so she was smiling like an idiot. It was one of her favorite pictures of the two of them.

"Yeah, it is," Annabeth replied, smiling.

"Is your mom filthy rich or something?" Jess asked.

"Something like that. I don't exactly have access to her money though," Annabeth explained. "That trip was actually a treat from another relative."

"Oh. But seriously, is your mom famous or something? Would I know who she is?" Jess asked jokingly.

Annabeth just laughed. If only she knew...

"So you got Percy to try-out for the swim team," Jess stated, referencing what Daniela had said earlier.

"I was surprised she found out so quickly. News travels really fast here. That happened at lunch, and Daniela knew by the end of the day," Annabeth said.

"Yeah, the students at Goode like to talk to each other. Everyone's been keeping their eyes on you because you're dating Percy, the next 'up-and-coming' popular guy."

"Why's everyone so obsessed with that?" Annabeth questioned.

"Well, have you ever seen _Gossip Girl?_" Jess tried to explain.

"No."

"Oh, well, as humans, we all enjoy gossiping about other people's lives. Popular people are in the perfect spotlight for gossiping about, and Percy Jackson has always been a mystery. Putting him into the spotlight is what everyone wants to see."

Annabeth pondered that for a moment. It was a strange concept, but it also applied to Camp Half-Blood. Everyone wanted to know more about Percy Jackson, the child of the prophecy and savior of Olympus. That fame spread even further with the seven.

"Interesting," Annabeth said.

"Yeah, the both of you are quite the pair as well. It's almost as if you two know about something the rest of us don't," Jess replied

"We should probably get back to _Romeo and Juliet," _Annabeth interrupted, panicked of where Jess was going with her thought.

They went back to the kitchen table where they didn't get much done before Jess' mom called her, and she had to go home.

As Annabeth shut the door behind her friend, she sighed. How was she and Percy supposed to convince the school that they were normal when they clearly weren't?

"Something wrong, Annabeth? You've been leaning against the door for five minutes," Malcolm said.

"Apparently, Percy and I aren't very good at fitting in," Annabeth explained.

"How so?" Malcolm asked.

"Everyone can pretty much tell that we are different, except most people think that's just a sign that we are destined to be 'popular,'" Annabeth replied.

"You guys are pretty popular at camp though. What makes being popular at Goode any different?" Malcolm asked, confused.

"At Goode, popular isn't being well-liked; it's being a terrible person who does things that put them in the spotlight. I'm also pretty sure that you have to be feared by a majority of the school," Annabeth further explained.

"Wouldn't most schools be like that?"

"I guess, but it's worse here. That, or I perceive it as worse because I'm being dragged into it. Today someone even told me to break up with Percy or become friends with the 'popular girls,' so he would be dating an acceptable girl. I have no idea what I'm going to do about these people."

Malcolm led her to her living room where Annabeth promptly threw herself onto the couch.

"I recommend that you get your work done and then turn in early. A good night's sleep will do you good," Malcolm suggested.

"Okay," Annabeth mumbled then sat us. "We should probably eat at some point, though."

"Already covered," Malcolm said, "I called Percy earlier. He'll be over in about 10 minutes with pizza."

"Wouldn't it have been easier to just order pizza to be delivered by someone being paid to do so?" Annabeth joked.

"Don't complain. You're boyfriend is coming over," Malcolm replied in the same tone.

"But you told me to do homework."

"It'll take you a half an hour to finish all of your homework. I think you'll be fine."

"Shut up, Malcolm."

* * *

**Yay chapter 7 was fun. Chapter 8 might not be up for awhile. I'm going on a band trip next week then a science trip. Lot's of stuff happening. **

**QOTD: what's your favorite Disney song? I probably wouldn't be able to choose. I like a lot of Disney princess stuff because I'm such a typical girl haha**

**See you guys next chapter, whenever that may be. Au revoir mes amies!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I write these chapters on paper ahead of time. Like ****_very _****ahead of time. I didn't realize how short this chapter was, and there wasn't much I could do about it. Sorry. I do hope you enjoy it though. It's very fluffy.**

* * *

Luckily, Annabeth did have very little homework that evening. She had most of it done very quickly, and when Percy finally showed up, she was writing the paragraph about Athena. Annabeth laughed at how simple it was. Even the bare minimum made the paragraph quite lengthy.

Annabeth heard Malcolm greeting Percy at the door and smiled.

"It's about time you got here, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth called. "I'm so hungry."

"Then it's a good thing I came bearing pizza," Percy replied as he walked into the living room and placed said pizza on the coffee table.

"I guess so," she replied then stood up to hug him. Then, she pulled away to grab a slice of pizza.

"You must be pretty hungry. That was a quick hug, and I didn't even get a kiss yet," Percy said with an obviously fake pout.

"You'll get one later. After I eat, I'm going to finish this paragraph and get a head start on my presentation," Annabeth said then took a bite of her pizza.

"You're such an over-achiever," Percy chuckled.

"What else did you expect? I am a daughter of Athena. You'd think that piece of information would have made it through your hick skull after all of these years," Annabeth joked.

"Shut up and eat your pizza, Wise Girl."

"Gladly, Seaweed Brain."

They ate in silence while occasionally stealing glances and laughing at each other.

"Clearly, I'm not a part of whatever this silent conversation is, so I'm going to do work in my room," Malcolm announced then left the room.

Before Annabeth could react, Percy had her pinned to the couch, his face inches away from hers.

"Do I get a kiss now?" Percy asked sweetly.

"Only because you snuck up on me for once. You deserve a reward, I guess," Annabeth replied, smiling.

Their lips met, and Annabeth felt like she was floating in the clouds. However, she still felt safe and secure in Percy's arms.

He pulled away first, and smiled down at her. Annabeth shifted the two of them so they were lying facing each other.

"You seemed to recover from this morning pretty well," Percy pointed out.

"Well," she started, "when you've been through what we've been through, you bounce back pretty quickly when you realize that you're alive."

Percy nodded in agreement, and Annabeth snuggled into his chest.

"I love you," she mumbled.

"I love you, too," he murmured into her hair where he kissed her right after.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to calm you down," Percy said softly after awhile.

"I can handle myself, Percy," Annabeth said tiredly.

"I know, but you shouldn't have to," Percy replied. "Now before you fall asleep, you should start on that project. As a daughter of Athena, you _must _be an overachiever."

Annabeth laughed. "Okay, fine. I'm really comfortable though."

"Too bad. I'm going to be a good influence for a change," Percy joked then pecked her lips before sitting up.

Annabeth groaned in protest, but sat up anyway.

"So, Seaweed Brain, how do I prove that I'm a daughter of Athena?" Annabeth asked.

"DNA test?" he suggested which earned him a pillow in the face. "Kidding. You could use those beautiful eyes of yours, and play them off as a coincidence. "

"Good start. I'm also, obviously, very wise. Battle strategy is something I'm awesome at, and I could use Capture the Flag as an example," Annabeth brainstormed while grabbing a notebook to write her ideas down in.

"You'll have to explain the whole 'Athena is a maiden goddess' thing," Percy pointed out.

"We were conceived the same way she was. Simple as that. Mortals don't need all of the details."

"Use your fear of spiders, too."

"While I'm at it, I should use Athena and Poseidon's rivalry and compare it to how much I hate you," Annabeth said with an eye roll.

Percy rolled his eyes back at her. "I was being serious, Wise Girl."

"I'll add it to the list, but there is no way in Hades that I'll be demonstrating that fear."

Percy just laughed at her, and it was hard to keep a straight face.

"Okay," Annabeth said while turning to a new page in her notebook," let's move on to you, Son of Poseidon."

"I like to swim, and the ocean is my favorite place to be in the world," Percy said and she wrote that down.

"Since your dad is one of the Big Three, you are a natural-born leader," Annabeth suggested as she wrote.

"Black hair and sea green eyes. That's not too much, is it?" Percy questioned.

"You told me to play it off as a coincidence. I'm sure that you can do the same," Annabeth replied.

"It's going to be hard to hold back on this project, isn't it?"

"Probably, Perce, but we'll do fine. I'm sure of it. After all, we're the only people in the room who won't be just throwing tons of information together in order to get an A. We know what we're talking about."

Annabeth heard Percy laugh from beside her, and she couldn't help but join in. How more ironic could this situation get?

* * *

**Do you like it? Percabeth is my OTP. In this fandom anyway. Speaking of fandoms, what fandoms are you guys in?**

**See ya next chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey there guys! Sorry about the last update coming so late, but this sort of makes up for it, right? I just want to warn that this chapter has a poorly written sexist man in it. I thought it would work, but it didn't. I wasn't sure how to fix it, so I just sort of left it. enjoy chapter 9!**

* * *

The next day in English, Annabeth and Jess chatted animatedly until the bell rang for class to begin.

"Okay, everybody get into pairs and discuss what you did for homework," Ms. Bell instructed.

Annabeth and Jess paired up, but they didn't discuss much because they had done the homework together.

"So have you come up with a strategy for dealing with Daniela yet?" Jess asked once she was sure Ms. Bell wasn't listening.

"I don't think I really need one," Annabeth replied. "She's just some dumb girl. I've dealt with way worse than her, so she's no threat to me."

"Well, you must have some kind of plan," Jess prodded.

"Athena always has a plan," Annabeth said out of habit. Then, she panicked. _Why would you say that? _she questioned herself.

"Um, okay?" Jess replied, confused.

"It's for my Ancient Greek project," Annabeth quickly tried to somehow explain. "I have to prove that I'm a daughter of Athena, so I've just been trying to get into the right mindset."

_Forgive me mother, _Annabeth prayed.

"That makes sense. I almost thought you were going crazy there," Jess laughed.

Annabeth nervously laughed with her, and she cursed at herself for being so careless.

Luckily, throughout her next class, her calculus teacher just lectured, so she was able to calm herself down to a reasonable level.

_Okay, Annabeth. It was just out of habit. You had a reasonable excuse. No one suspects anything, _Annabeth said to herself as she walked from Calculus to the locker room.

"You okay, Annabeth? You look a little stressed," Kimberlee said as they all changed for class.

"Oh, I'm fine," Annabeth replied while shaking her head to clear her thoughts. "Just trying to think about what to do for my Ancient Greek project."

"Is it really stressing you out?" Gabby asked.

"No, I just like to do my best on projects, so I invest a lot of my thinking time on them," Annabeth explained. It wasn't really a lie. Just a truth explaining something else.

The other girls shared a look, but Annabeth shrugged them off.

After roll call, their gym teacher instructed them to pair up.

"Today we are going to learn the basics of self-defense," she announced, "and while I do know a little bit, I am no professional. Luckily, the school hired a man from a studio nearby that specializes in teaching women how to protect themselves."

"This should be good," Annabeth said under her breath to Jess. "I can only imagine what this guy is going to 'teach' us."

The teacher called for a man named Bryan to come in, and when he did, Annabeth nearly laughed out loud. He was wearing a pink t-shirt that read: _Women can defend themselves. _It was obviously endorsing the self-defense studio, but it still looked dumb.

"Hello, ladies. I'm Bryan," he introduced himself. "I actually run the studio 'Defend Yourself' which, obviously, specializes in the teachings of self-defense. We like to focus more on women, though, because women are more often sexually assaulted, and generally don't know how to defend themselves.

Annabeth was disgusted. Yes, what this studio was doing was a good thing, but Bryan was talking down to these girls. You could tell by the tone in his voice. He wasn't delivering his message very well, and none of the girls looked too happy about it.

"I assume that none of you will hurt each other, so with your partner, decide who is going to be the attacker first and try to defend yourself," Bryan instructed.

Most of the girls laughed at his first comment, but Annabeth just rolled her eyes.

"I'll attack first," Annabeth said to Jess. "Close your eyes, so it'll seem like a dark alley."

Jess obliged, and Annabeth 'attacked' her by wrapping her arms around Jess tightly and not allowing her to move.

Jess couldn't get out of her grip when she could have easily just fallen to the ground to get out of her grip.

Bryan came over to the two of them to 'teach' the right thing to do.

"What's your name, hun?" Bryan asked Jess.

"Jess," she replied.

"Okay, Jess. You're friend here had you in a pretty tight hold. The best way to get out of it isn't to struggle. You need to just get your body to the ground. It will be harder for her to keep a hold of you," he explained.

_At least he kind of knows what he's talking about._

Bryan instructed everyone to switch, and Jess 'attacked' Annabeth by grabbing her wrist.

Annabeth easily escaped by twisting her wrist to the right.

"Great job!" exclaimed Bryan. "What's your name?"

"Annabeth," she replied.

"Well, Annabeth, you look like a quick learner. Today is going to be a breeze for you. Then, you'll be able to take this knowledge to the streets!" Bryan continued to say, very loudly.

He then displayed a few 'hand-maneuvers' as he called them for basic self-defense.

"I hope you ladies will keep this information in your mind. Being attacked in the streets can take you by surprise, but that doesn't mean you have to act like a girl about it. If any of you want ore training, I have information about my studio," Bryan said after their teacher announced that it was time to change.

"Annabeth," Bryan caught her attention, "I hope that you will consider training with me. You showed a lot of potential today, and I would hate for it to go to waste."

"I've already been trained. I don't need your misogynistic studio. I know you have the right ideas and goals, but you portray all women as weak. I do not like that at all, so even if I wasn't already trained, I would never go to your studio," Annabeth told him then turned and followed the other girls into the locker room.

"Way to go, Annabeth," Jess said while they all changed. "You told him."

"He was bothering me. Women can be strong, too. Every girl at my summer camp is ten times tougher than that Bryan guy. Heck, even Percy's a strong guy, but I could kick his butt any day," Annabeth ranted.

"Is that camp where you got your training?" Kimberlee asked.

"Yeah..." Annabeth replied while mentally slapping herself for revealing too much, again. You'd think a daughter of Athena would be better than this.

"Must be a pretty active summer camp. Is it for a sport or something?" Gabby asked.

"No, it's just a regular summer camp except most of the kids there have either ADHD, dyslexia, or both. They help us there. It's actually where I met Percy," Annabeth replied while mentally applauding herself for her lie.

"Aw, that's nice. You two get to spend entire summers together," Gabby said with a dreamy look on her face.

When was the last time Camp Half-Blood had an entire peaceful summer? Probably before Percy ever showed up. Even before then, people were always going on quests, so people were always worrying about one another's safety.

"What was it like the day you two met?" Kimberlee asked.

This was a story Annabeth had pre-filtered just in case they asked. It was no big deal answering.

"The first year Percy came to camp was very hectic. He got injured on his first day, and I helped out in the infirmary. The first thing I ever said to him was, 'You drool when you sleep.' I wanted to hate him, but I couldn't. We inevitably became best friends," Annabeth explained.

"And now you're dating," Gabby attempted to finish.

"Oh, no," Annabeth corrected, "We'll always be best friends before we are a couple. It's how we work, and it would probably freak all of our friends out if we acted all 'lovey-dovey' twenty-four/seven."

The girls laughed, and continued changing while talking about unimportant mortal things.

"There's a dance coming up soon," Jess said out of nowhere.

"I need a date," Gabby whined. "Why do we have to be nerdy losers?"

"Couldn't you just go with Lewis or Vincent as friends?" Annabeth asked.

"We've done that before. They just end up hanging out with each other. Plus, there's two of them and three of us," Gabby explained.

"Percy has three friends that are on the swim team. I could probably set you girls up with them," Annabeth suggested.

"Like they would want to go with us," Gabby replied with an eye roll.

"You never know! I'll talk to them," Annabeth promised.

Annabeth couldn't help but smile. This was one mortal experience she was _really_ looking forward to. Plus, she'll get to hang out with her new friends _and _Percy. It was going to be great!

* * *

**Yay longish chapter. Don't really have a question for today, so I guess tell me what your favorite part of this story has been so far. My favorite part has yet to come, but it's written. You'll see it in the next chapter.**

**Until next time!**


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